How sweet is too sweet (for a finish?)

Jeff Summerlin

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I just posted a new recipe (Pataskala Minor) that is a take on Stone Brewing - "Pataskala". Same hops, Same Red X malt plus Goldswaen. Predicted finish is 1.023 with 50+ IBUs. I'm concerned about balance, but hate a very bitter beer. Any ideas?

I have not brewed it yet, but I have a few brews lined up, so I have entertaining beverages for Christmas! I'll get the malts while I brew some stout and some porter and a couple other yummilicious brews for time off.

Cheers, everybody!
 
Just heads up, I recently brewed a Belgian Tripel with T-58 yeast. Underpitched and came out to 1.022. It was so sweet it was almost undrinkable. I would not recommend let anything finish that high after that.
How come your projected FG is so high though?
 
Gravity is loosely correlated with sweetness. There's a whole bunch of things that will complicate that relationship. High bitterness or roast flavour will change your perception of sweetness. Other things like alcohol, dextrins or beta-glucans can significantly affect your perception of whether it's sweet or not.

And of course there's our own neurochemistry. It's amazing how many people will taste sweetness in something dry as hell, just because there was a hint of vanilla.

How much of the grist is the goldswaen? That's the most obvious contributor to sweetness.

And I've had beers finishing in the low 1.020s that have been fine. Probably due to the roast malts in them, or my taste preferences, or both.
 
Yep had that BF community beer finish at 1.022 it was just right on the money I recon them roast malts and hop bittering kept that sweetness in check.

No imagine a wheat bier finishing that high might be another story.
 
Beyond what's already been said, your perception is the most important factor. I doubt seriously that Stone would produce and market anything questionable.
 
Pataskala is a good beer with a big malty backbone! I don't think your fg and ibu's are out of line at all.
 
I just posted a new recipe (Pataskala Minor) that is a take on Stone Brewing - "Pataskala". Same hops, Same Red X malt plus Goldswaen. Predicted finish is 1.023 with 50+ IBUs. I'm concerned about balance, but hate a very bitter beer. Any ideas?

I have not brewed it yet, but I have a few brews lined up, so I have entertaining beverages for Christmas! I'll get the malts while I brew some stout and some porter and a couple other yummilicious brews for time off.

Cheers, everybody!
Sweetness is balanced by bitterness or acidity. A 1.023 finish at 50 IBUs will NOT seem to be sweet but may have a very silky body to it. It also shouldn't be excessively bitter. A good way to estimate actual perceived bitterness is to divide the bitterness by the original gravity points ( 1000*(OG-1) ). Or use this chart:
bugu.png

Red is extremely malty, green is extremely bitter.
 
If it's finishing at 1.02x I assume it's original gravity is quite high? If that's so the alcohol level will balance the sweetness a bit. And 50 ibu is fair amount of bitterness so I don't think it will be too sweet.
 

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